Don’t worry, I never heard of Parallel Reality before, either
January 8th 2020
Baked and Awake
Episode 096
Don’t worry, I never heard of Parallel Reality before, either
Source: Fast Company, via Slashdot
Original Article by Harry McCracken (https://www.fastcompany.com/90443495/deltas-parallel-reality-airport-display-sounds-like-sci-fi-but-its-real
Misapplied Sciences: https://www.misappliedsciences.com/
adjective: agnostic- Relating to agnostics or agnosticism. Synonyms: skeptical, doubting, questioning, unsure, cynical, unbelieving, disbelieving, nonbelieving, faithless, irreligious, rationalist, nullifidian. Nevertheless, further clarity may be gained by also reading the noun’s definition, which reads: “A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God”
Speaking of magic, I saw some (weed and paranoia fueled no doubt) red flags in the language chosen by the article’s author, over and above Misappllied’s CEO’s glib take on his responsibility to acknowledge the true scope of their tech’s wider applications. The article opens with characterizing the airport traveling experience as a ritual. A couple paragraphs down, a statement about how the tech in question is being judged as “a technological magic trick”. There were references to the Startup being in “Stealth Mode”, and the choice to use phrases like Deployed and Deployment, which appear three times when referencing additional applications for the tech as well as where Delta is currently planning to test it (Detroit, by the way). To be fair, I assume Mr McCracken is a tech writer by trade,(UPDATE: Oh yeah is he ever) and in that realm, specifically in software development, “Deploy” is frequently used as a label for certain workflows including pushing updates to servers, handing off new builds from developers to Testers, etc. “We deployed the new build this morning so you clowns should be able to break it as soon as you’re ready” that sort of thing, so it could just be force of Techboy habit- but I don’t like the word here. Whenever your car’s infotainment system receives an OTA update, some Sys Admin somewhere a few hours before got a little IT Boner when they said “We’ve deployed the latest code to the Live Server”, or words to that effect. I don’t know, it all smacks of para militarism or something. The whole project was borne out of a 2014 Microsoft experiment with Spectators at a Pro Sports event where cell phones were used to signal individuals to sit or stand on command, effectively turning them into “Human Pixels” (Ahem- cybernetics- cough). Misapplied also has a connection to Walt Disney Imagineering, through Co Founder Dave Thompson, who previously worked in creating theme park experiences for Disney. (More pure psychology and cybernetics all with the express intent of getting you to stay longer and spend more in The Enchanted Kingdom) Delta will be showing a Future Visions video at CES that depicts a Parallel Reality powered security check-in experience that appears to be a seamless, hands free operation- something that I think will be leveraged heavily to push for widespread use of such systems in many other public spaces as well as secure buildings (Malls, Stadiums, High Rise Offices, Apartments, etc). The article closes with ...Future possibilities aside, once Delta’s beta experience is up and running, it should be worth at least a few minutes for anyone who travels through the airline’s Detroit terminal and wants to see something genuinely new. Ng, however, remains insistent that the ultimate goal isn’t to wow anybody. Like many a potential breakthrough before it, parallel reality will matter most if we start to take it for granted.“It’s not about people appreciating the technology,” he says. “It’s about people going through these venues and getting a seamless experience. And when we can get to that point, where the technology blends away, that means we made it. That means that we were successful.”
Thanks for listening to today’s story, I hope you enjoyed it and it gives you something to think about as you continue your day. I also want to thank my instagram friends @melbournemudflood and Sean McCoy of the Come to The Table podcast for sharing my Guardians of the Galaxy meme over there yesterday- you guys are the real MVP’s! Honorable mention among my IG family for today also includes @itsyourgirlm7 who posts uncomfortable truths all day long on her account, and yet still manages to have a sense of humor about it, and @allenwolfphotos, who listens to the podcast, recently was traveling in Spain, and went a little mudflood crazy while he was there. Allan, I’m looking forward to poring over some of those images you took at full resolution soon brother!
Only three more shows until episode 100- what do you think I should do for that milestone? Anything special? Get at me, always, at talktous@bakedandawakecom, and visit my permanent internet home at www.bakedandawake.com where you can always find the podcasts, learn more about me, connect with other listeners in The Smoking Lounge, and support the show by buying some podcast merch or checking out my Amazon affiliate links for my journal and daily planner and other fine products you probably need in your lives. Maybe.
Alright everyone, that’ll do it for this episode of the Plagiarizing Slashdot Podcast, I’ve been your stoney host Steve, and you can make me happy this week by posting an image to your favorite social media platform and tagging it with our motto, #smokeindicadoshitanyway.
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Episode ambient Music generously provided by Antti Luode Track: Datsun280zx (http://www.soundclick.com/AnttiLuode),http://www.soundclick.com/_mobileFrame.cfm?bandID=1277008
Additional Music Provided with permission by Northwest Grab aka https://summoningsickness.bandcamp.com
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